Some Facts about Beef Stroganoff that you may be interested to know.
The recipe has its origin from Russia.Despite the name "stroganoff"
associated to Count Paul Stroganoff, a 19th century Russian diplomat,
the origins of the dish have never been confirmed.
This original recipe had beef, mushrooms and sour cream.
Elena Molokhovets' classic Russian cookbook (1861) gives the first
known recipe for Govjadina po-strogonovski, s gorchitseju "Beef
Stroganov with mustard" which involves lightly floured beef cubes (not
strips) sautéed, sauced with prepared mustard and bouillon (a broth.
This name comes from the verb bouillir, meaning to boil), and finished
with a small amount of sour cream and no onion
An excerpt from The Cuisine of Hungary, George Lang [Atheneum:New
York] 1982 (p. 272) indicates that this dish dates quite back into the
history-
"One of the most interesting versions of tokany is the ancient dish of
sour cream vetrece (savanyu vetrece), which was already mentioned as a
part of the dinners of King Matthias in the fifteenth century. In this
type of ragout, beef is cooked with smoked bacon, garlic and black
pepper; later bay leaves, mustard, lemon juice, vinegar, sugar and
grated lemon rind are added, and finally sour cream. The only flavors
lost over the centuries are mace, ginger and saffron. In the dining
rooms of the Transylvanian gentry, paper-thin slices of peeled lemon
were served on top of this more sweet than sour dish and does not
specify a starch accompaniment."
A 1912 recipe adds onions and tomato paste tomato paste and serves it
with crisp potato.Tomato paste is a thick paste made from ripened
tomatoes with skin and seeds removed. Depending on its manufacturing
conditions, it can be used to make either ketchup or reconstituted
tomato juice.
With substantial variation in the ways of cooking and taste this Beef
Stroganoff recipe has evolved into different versions and is thus much
popular in its different forms in Europe, Australia, North America,
South Africa and Brazil.
It is popular in Portugal and Brazil under the name "estrogonofe" or
"Strogonoff.
Stroganoff is also popular in Sweden and Norway. In Sweden, a common
variant is sausage stroganoff, which uses the domestic product
Falukorv(a traditional Sweden sausage.) as a substitute for the beef.
Beef stroganoff is however also a common dish.
|
